The annual Black History observance acts as a gauge of the prevailing political atmosphere, so how do we revamp it?
We are in Black History Month in the Britain, and it feels like it’s time for a rethink. As time has passed, an observance that started out as a commemorative event of the past, cultural identity and bonds between international African diaspora communities, has adopted a corporate feel, broadening to incorporate events where Black people are compensated to talk to white audiences about hidden biases and “allyship”. The 2020s Black Lives Matter protests sparked an increase in the industry of displaying cultural sensitivity. But even that moment has passed. The surge has reached its height, resulting in a somewhat empty inheritance of what increasing understanding is for.
The Background of Black History Month
First commemorated in the US and Canada, Black History Month was created in 1962 as a week dedicated to Negro history by Black scholar Carter G. Woodson with multiple days of commemoration and observance in the second week of February. Black History Month evolved from this campaign and was publicly established in 1970. Currently it is marked not only in the US and Canada in winter, but also in the tenth month in the United Kingdom, Deutschland, Éire and the Holland.
The period has transformed since that time, placing less emphasis on the histories of colonial slavery and struggles for equality, and greater focus on influential individuals of color in politics, culture, and activism, and widely honoring the impact Black people have made to shape the country. It is in educational institutions where Black History Month is most frequently marked, with discussions and heritage festivities. But the way the month is celebrated is a manifestation of the current political situation. How it evolves is a instructive case in how co-option leads to erosion: the restructuring of Black History Month has hindered the objective of it, which is to tackle embedded and established prejudice.
A Troubling Time
Few things illustrate how crucial it is to reevaluate Black History Month better than the specific period in which it falls this year. In the UK, a reemerging right-wing in the guise of the Reform organization is top in opinion ratings. In the warmer months we saw the largest far-right rally in the UK's past. Kemi Badenoch, the Black leader of the Conservative party, is a staunch adversary of Black Lives Matter, and we are in a position where a member of parliament gains confidence to state that the absence of Caucasian individuals in certain urban areas is a source of worry. Meanwhile, far-right parties are surging in the EU as a whole.
In the America, a significant offensive against inclusion programs and preferential policies has been brought, frequently with success, to the highest courts of the country. A drive to scrub the history of people of color and narrative from the archives is under way. One of the former president's first executive orders focused on the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the renowned cultural organization, accusing them of a organized and extensive campaign to rewrite our Nation’s history” by portraying America “as inherently racist”.
Against this backdrop, the celebration symbolises how insufficiently it can be effective if it is restricted to either obligatory business commemorations, or politically neutered festivities of former accomplishments, rather than challenging the situation of the contemporary world. It also reveals how its limited duration means that it is separated from the broader ongoing work that is required. A university professor, a professor at University of Greenwich, expressed it perfectly when she raised concerns about the short-term symbolic gestures of the month. “The difficulty with taking a tokenistic approach”, she wrote, “is that it typically leads to that Black History Month evolves into a fleeting performance rather than a driver of transformation.”
Reevaluating, Not Abandoning
Determining how to adjust, modify and expand efforts for racial equality and recognition in such times of discouragement and concern is a challenging endeavor. There is a temptation to just do away with events including Black History Month entirely, thinking they are simply not fit for purpose, or are remnants of an time that has failed to deliver.
Yet, in spite of all this, Black History Month, and in fact the whole broad system and tradition of activism for racial justice – local anti-racism groups, inclusion and equity efforts, and yes, even those talks to businesses – constitute an foundation that a significant effort has gone into. It is there not merely to decline as the politics moves on (and in fact, declines), but to be a vital organism.
So what would a fresh vibrant Black History Month look like? To begin with, it would be not just one concentrated month: something that is dispersed through the year (as some institutions are already starting to implement), sections of its curriculum (particularly around historic Black characters) incorporated into academic syllabi. It would also be a period that does not evade governmental matters, and allows opportunity for citizens, particularly the younger generation, to air their fears and experiences. What use is simple recognition of the past when it fails to address the present reality of far-right rallies in the public spaces? Institutions who observe it should not be reassured with the non-confrontational words of “unconscious bias” and awareness of subtle slights, but faced with the threats that affect everyone if opposition to discrimination is not treated with importance. Briefly stated, Black History Month should be made contemporary, critical, and adaptive. It could be that an complete renaming is necessary – Present-Day African Heritage Celebration.
